A treatise on Satan's temptations - Gilpin - XXX - Chapter 10 & 11 of Part 3

Required reading
A treatise on Satan's temptations by Richard Gilpin (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 10 and 11 of Part 3.

My summary
This week Gilpin continues his discussion of the temptation of Christ given in Matthew 4:3 'And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.'

In Chapter Ten Gilpin discusses the aim of the temptations and observes:
(xii) that where Satan carries on a main design and end, he bestows most of his pains and skill in rendering the means to that end plausible and taking.

Then in Chapter Eleven Gilpin looks at the suitableness of the temptation and observes:
(xiii) that the failure of ordinary means of help is by Satan improved as his special engine to bring men to a distrust of providence, and from thence to an unwarrantable attempt for their relief in an extraordinary way.

What grabbed me
I appreciated this description of Satan's methods: 'If he presents to men occasions of sinning, he will tell them ordinarily that they may lawfully adventure upon them, that they are harmless, nay, of advantage, as tending to the recreating of the spirits and health of the body ; yea, that it is necessary for them to take such a liberty, and that in doing so, they do but what others do that profess religion. And often he hath such advantage from the circumstances of the thing, and the inclination of our heart, that he makes bold to tell us it is no less than duty. Such did the outrage of Demetrius seem to him, when he considered how much his livelihood did depend upon the Diana of the Ephesians. Paul's zeal made him confident that persecution of Christians was his duty ; neither is there anything which can pretend to any zeal, advantage, or colourable ground, but presently it takes the denomination of duty. '

What a terrible statement about our blindness that sometimes sin appears to be our duty.

Next week's reading
Read Chapter 12 of Part 3.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.